The end of an era

In 1 month and 23 days the engines will be restarted and finally we will have the Formula 1 back! Last year’s title race has been one of the most exciting in the recent history not only due to the floodlit night race in Singapore but also as it was a really tight one from the very first race and was decided only in the last corner of the race in Interlagos. Most of you might remember that Lewis Hamilton crowned himself to the youngest Formula One World Drivers' Champion ever while Brazilian Felipe Massa broke out in tears when crossing the finishing line in his home country as winner, but learning that Hamilton gained the vital point by overtaking Timo Glock in the very last corner of this crazy race with rain.

As always there have been several changes in the regulatory environment (tyres, aerodynamics, etc.) and also many personnel changes within the teams in the off-season, but two amendments are ground-breaking. First of all the global economic crisis hit Bernie Ecclestone’s circus and resulted in Honda withdrawing from the Formula 1. The Japanese carmaker has been a cornerstone of the Formula 1 since the 1960s and has won many world championships before withdrawing in late 1992 just to return into the competition in 2000. During the past 8 seasons no more world championship could be won and cost pressure paired with the economic crisis forced Honda to withdraw from the most prestigious motor-racing competition.

Jochen Rindt, Jacky Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna etc - he knew them all!

For Austrians though the end of an era has arrived as Heinz Prueller, THE voice of Formula 1 in Austrian public television, ORF, will not act as commentator of the races anymore. Unfortunately the contract with the 67 year-old legend has not been prolonged and thus one of his young colleagues will take over. Prueller has been part of the Formula 1 circus since 1965, knows all racers ever since personally and has presented each race with his heart blood. Given the huge knowledge and experience and the huge amount of information he had to deliver he missed though every now and then crashes, overtaking manoeuvres or pit stops and only realised it a few laps later, but still his commentating was entertaining. We do hope that Heinz will remain part of ORF's TV broadcast of the Formula 1 one way or the other and wish him farewell and his successor Ernst Hausleitner good luck for the challenge.

Kerstin & Markus